Dark Divinations: A Chat about HorrorAddicts.net’s Newest Anthology

1. All stories are set in the Victorian era.
2. They all involve some method of divination.

Inside the Anthology

It didn’t take me long to realize as I spoke with Emz and Naching that the stories weren’t your run-of-the-mill ones you might expect about seances or crystal balls. There are two stories that each deal with those methods of divination, but the authors were very clever and creative about thinking outside of the box.

For instance, two stories Naching used to highlight the unconventional ones found in Dark Divinations included “Of Blood and Bones” by Jeremey Megargee and “The Moat House Cob” by Allan Fisher. One utilizes the method of throwing bones, and the other employs arachnomancy where a spider –or rather its web– is the seer’s tool.

Emz’s picks included ones that also had love stories in them: “Copper and Cordite” by Ash Hartwell and “Breaking Bread” by R. L. Merril. Dreams and bread allow the characters to see beyond the present in those.

All stories are dark and a bit Twilight Zone-ish, but there’s something for everyone, from magical and thriller to gore and romance.

The Audio Drama

Another neat thing Emz and Naching discussed was Naching’s story that’s included in the anthology, “They Wound Like Rooms.”

Naching explained it’s an epistolary story written in letter form and is about a brother writing to his sister that’s he’s fallen in love with a woman that he’s seen through entrail readings. He starts off using animals but those soon aren’t enough…

Naching’s story has been syndicated as an audio drama and will be heard on HorrorAddicts.net.

The Other Stories

Dark Divinations contains 14 stories in all. In addition to the ones Emz and Naching pointed out, the anthology includes:

1. “The Bell” by Jon O’Bergh – A physical medium gets buried alive –or so he thinks.
2. “The Miroir de Vaugnac” by Michael Fassbender – A widowed seer augmenting her skills through an antique scrying bowl faces grim choices when she realizes she’s not fully in control of its powers.
3. “Romany Rose” by Stephanie Ellis – A penny gaff machine appears on the street ready to tell fortunes, which may or may not be a good thing.
4. “Miss May’s Prayers” by H.R.R. Gorman – A woman in a house outside of a city uses the Bible to do divinations but “the preacher don’t like it.”
5. “Broken Crystal” by Rie Sheridan Rose – Sometimes the seeker refuses to accept the truth the seer offers –with desperate consequences. (This happens to be a crystal ball story.)
6. “Damnation in Venice” by Joe L. Murr – An intricate tale of a roguish fortune teller who counsels an aging writer but winds up in danger of damning his own soul.
7. “The Pocket Watch” by Emerian Rich – A young American bride returns to her English estate with her husband and receives a present from his deceased mother that can foretell a deadly family curse. (Emz explained this story was inspired by a dream she had long before even the idea for the Dark Divinations anthology was born.)
8. “The Ghost of St. John Lane” by Daphne Strasert – While conducting a seance to contact her dead husband, Eleanor Prim saves a girl with a strange gifts and provokes a man who will do anything to keep it to himself. (This was the only seance story.)
9. “Power and Shadow” by Hannah Hulbert – A soft horror tale of tea leaf manipulation, fate-possessed carousel horses, and a controlling mother

The Tarot Cards

The other cool thing is they created a tarot card for each story. It was a gift-with-purchase for pre-ordered books. However, they’re still selling them and will until continue to do until supplies run out.

There are two options to choose from:

1. Black and white that you can color yourself if you’re so inclined
2. Hand-painted.

You can buy Dark Divinations on Amazon, but to get a copy with the tarot cards you have to visit HorrorAddicts.net and order through their site. Here’s the link for that: http://www.emzbox.com/horroraddicts/darkdiv.

Note: If you use the link above to order a copy from Amazon, Haunt Jaunts may receive a commission for which we thank you!

I ordered a copy of Dark Divinations, but Emz was kind enough to send me a pack of tarot cards ahead of the book shipment. We had talked about them during her Ghoulish Goodies unboxing. I mentioned how I was nuts for tarot cards and she said she’d snag a pack. She just needed to know which kind I wanted: plain or colored?

The hand-painted ones are gorgeous, but I have a black and white theme going on in my office. The plain cards fit right in.

The Authors

The entire month of May the authors in the Dark Divinations anthology have been sharing the inspiration behind their stories on HorrorAddicts.net’s blog.

For the June 20 podcast, some of the authors will be reading excerpts of their stories in the book.

HorrorAddicts.net

Speaking of HorrorAddicts.net in general, in addition to their press, they produce a podcast. This year celebrates its 15th season.

The theme is Cursed Cubed, because it’s the third season in a row they’ve covered curses. But each year has been a little bit different. This year it’s all about how not to get cursed, which I think is super clever and fun and not something people often talk about.

You can see all their episodes for the season and listen to them by visiting http://horroraddicts.net/.

You can also listen to my chat with Emz and Naching wherever you get your podcasts from. I’ve also embedded it below.